


"Happy birthday baby, I love you."

by HoransPayne



Series: NiamNetwork Themes [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 19:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7904143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoransPayne/pseuds/HoransPayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam's last birthday</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Happy birthday baby, I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday Liam!! (Have you guys seen Niall's Instagram post? Oh my god, it's so cute :D)

Niall walked down the hallway slowly, not really by choice, but mainly because he was unable to walk much faster. His slow pace allowed him to take in his surroundings easier: the steady, ear-piercing beep of various machines, the bright white that seemed to burn his eyes, and the smell. God, that smell - he hated it. It wasn't necessarily a bad smell, it was just one he was sick of. He wasn't even sure how to describe the smell really, it was a mix of crappy food, bleach and old people. Well, Niall was an old person himself now, so maybe that wasn't the best way to describe it. 

As he walked down the corridor he refused to look into the rooms he walked past; he knew where he was going and he didn't need to look at everyone suffering around him. He took a deep breath as he reached his destination, and winced as the hospital smell entered his nose once more. He walked even slower than before as he entered the room, heading for the bed in the corner. A smile broke out when he saw the sight. A tall man in his thirties was sat in the big, cushioned chair next to the bed, smiling at the child in his lap, babbling away. Both man and child had the same brown hair, and smiled with the same smile, and looked with the same brown eyes - the same ones Niall fell in love with. As he walked closer, his presence was noticed by the child first, who shot up off the man's lap and into Niall's open arms. Niall picked him up with ease, and carried him back over to the bed, where he finally saw him. Liam. The very man he'd been in love with for so long, the man he'd had the privilege of not just growing up, but also growing old with. He smiled as his tired eyes landed upon Niall, the wrinkles on his face accentuated by this movement as his eyes scrunched up. 

"Sorry I'm late, I was just getting a few things." Niall started, slowly. He placed his grandson back into his son's lap before revealing a bag he'd been carrying. The first thing he pulled out was a big banner with the words: "Happy Birthday" written on it multiple times. He handed the banner to his son, who proceeded to hang it onto the wall, above Liam's bed. Niall then produced a helium balloon, with the same words on it, and placed it next to Liam. His grandson squealed in delight when he saw it, and the other three men smiled in adoration at the boy. The rest of the bag was filled with messily wrapped presents. Niall was never very good at wrapping them; he would usually get overexcited or impatient and rip the paper as he did it. It was always Liam's job, who always folded the paper perfectly, and would always finish it off with a neat little ribbon taped perfectly in the centre. He placed the bag on the bed by Liam's feet. Liam had his grandson placed on the bed with him and the two proceeded to unwrap the presents together. For the first time in forever, Niall felt his cheeks hurt from smiling too much. 

It was hard for Niall to smile too much anymore, but Niall wanted to make the most of today. Both Niall and Liam knew this would be Liam's last birthday, Niall only hoped he would live long enough to celebrate one last birthday with Niall too. 

The day was perfect - well, as perfect as a day might be when spent inside a hospital. The nurses even brought a cake out and they all sang happy birthday together. Liam had his grandson blow out the candles, unable to do it himself anymore, who happily obliged. 

It wasn't until that night that Niall stopped smiling again. Both their son and grandson had left, the younger having fallen asleep on Liam's shoulder. Niall, too, was beginning to feel weary, and knew that Liam would be needing his rest, even more so than Niall, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his husband's side. Niall sat, holding his hand, until Liam's eyes slowly closed, unable to remain open any longer. Niall tried to swallow down the lump in his throat that grew as he realised that this would probably be the same thing he would see at the end. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he slowly rose out of the chair, knowing visiting hours ended a long time ago, and didn't want to push his luck with the nurses too much. He placed a tender kiss on his husband's wrinkled forehead, and softly brushed the white hair from his face. 

"Happy birthday baby, I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. This was written for theme 2 of the NiamNetwork themes: Liam's birthday. Check us out on Tumblr too see more works for this same theme - fics, art and edits.  
> Let me know what you think, I wrote this as something really quickly this morning so I could have something to post for the theme and I'm not sure what I think of it. Our next theme is Niall's birthday, so I might go for something a bit more lighthearted than this one for that.  
> Also, I'm not sure whether to put a warning for "Major Character Death", because Liam's death is mentioned but he doesn't actually die in the fic?  
> Anyway, thanks again for reading, I really appreciate it.  
> Gimme a shout on Tumblr @ horanspayne :)


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